GROWTH TO CLOSE STABLE HANDICAPPED WILL LOSE SPECIAL RIDING PROGRAM

COCONUT CREEK -- When Becky Morrissett saw the yellow bands around the trees at Triple Trails riding stable, she knew the horse ranch was doomed.

The bands mark the trees that will be chopped down when the ranch is bulldozed to make way for 123 homes.

For Morrissett, the bands also symbolize the possible demise of a special riding program for handicapped children and adults.

The ranch is one of the last commercial stables in north Broward County where horses can be boarded. It also is one of only a few places where handicapped students in South Florida can learn to ride.

The ranch is falling victim to progress, which is rapidly changing the area east of Lyons Road and south of the Sawgrass Expressway.

"We figured with an elementary school going in and all the other homes under construction, it was too much to hope that the equestrian center would be left here," said Morrissett, an instructor for Horses and the Handicapped of South Florida. "But we didn't know it would go this quickly."

Owners of the 75 horses boarded at Triple Trails were told last week they must have their horses out by Feb. 10. Twelve of the horses there belong to the program, in which riding is used to improve the coordination and confidence of handicapped and emotionally impaired children and adults.

About 80 students from Boca Raton to Fort Lauderdale attend weekly classes at Triple Trails. Parents are worried the horses will be moved to a stable too far away for their children to participate in the program.

"My son looks forward to his class so much that every Saturday he's got his jeans and helmet on by 7 a.m. even though his class doesn't start until 11 a.m.," said Coral Springs resident Renee Stillman, whose 15-year-old is in the program.

For the past five years, the partners leasing Triple Trails have allowed the program free use of the stable. It is the only way the program can survive.

"We're only in a position to have donated space," said Michael Alexander, executive director of the private program.

Alexander has been contacting private and commercially run stables in north Broward and south Palm Beach counties to find space for the horses. So far, he has had no luck.

Officials of the Delray Beach-based program hope to build their own equestrian center in the near future somewhere in Palm Beach or Broward, but that is years away.

Razing the ranch is a sign of things to come, officials say.

Developers and Coconut Creek city officials say the 123 homes planned by Amrex Realty Inc. of Margate are compatible with other developments coming to Lyons Road.

An elementary school will be constructed on the east side of Lyons Road, north of Sample Road. Another 1,200 homes are planned just south of the Amrex complex.

The city's Planning and Zoning Board will review Amrex's site plan on Wednesday. The board also will be asked to rezone the land from an agricultural designation.

Some people who board horses at Triple Trails said they briefly thought about going to the meeting to protest the change.

"What good would going to the meeting do?" said Donna Kazanek, who boards two palomino horses at the stable. "It's already done. It's useless."